PSA on Global Warming – Intro & Production Notes
Posted by: Mr. Rhys, TMS on: January 23, 2008
The Project
Class 4-302 will be producing a Public Service Announcement working in four “production units” of 4 students each. Each group will write a script, adapt it for the screen using storyboards, collect still images and video that strengthen their argument, and edit it together using iMovie.
This blog post, and the comments that follow will be used to develop and adjust the production as it develops. When the PSA is finished, it will be shown on this website, as well as the others in the PS 124 Online Learning Network.
What is a PSA?
Today we are going to learn about Public Service Announcements, also known as “PSA”s. PSAs are usually:
- like a commercial
- about 30 seconds long
- not for a product, but for the public good, or helpful for everyone
- about health and safety
- to inform or educate the public
Here are a few examples:
The Ad Council links outline the main idea, audience, and how they hope to change people’s behavior.
- Tick (find link on right under “Television”)
- Cyberbullying (find link to “Talent Show” on right under “Television”)
- One (find link on right under “Television”)
- Student PSAs from Apple.com
- Truck Mirrors (by PS 124)
Discussion
- What were the main ideas of these PSAs?
- Did the issues they brought up seem important? Why?
- Will they change the way you behave?
- What media (images and sounds) did they use to persuade you? (Were they sad/scary/happy/funny…? Did they present a lot of facts?)
- What made these PSAs persuasive, or not persuasive?
Brainstorming for our PSA Scripts
- Take 2 minutes to write about something you want to inform the public about.
- In the next 2 minutes, make a list of the most important reasons why your specific issue is important for the public to care about.
- Take 2 more minutes to list of some of the images or sounds you might use to persuade someone to do something about your issue. Think about some of the things we just saw in the examples. Will you try to appeal to people’s emotions, things they know about, or both?
8 Responses to "PSA on Global Warming – Intro & Production Notes"
January 30, 2008 at 7:07 pm
Today we went through some of the PSA examples listed in this post and discussed why and how they were made. Students took notes in their writers’ notebooks. Here are some highlights of what they shared with the class:
The video: “Tick”
The Topic covered in Tick
* global warming, and how it is effecting the earth
* what global warming causes
<strongWhat was the point of the Tick PSA?
* global warming is here and we have to stop it
* to convince us to go to fightglobalwarming.com to learn ways of fighting global warming
How did they convince us to act?
* by scaring us:
** music: scary (gongs, “sounds like the end of the world”);
** script: says that the world is going to suffer; ** script/acting: they keep saying “tick” (time is running out, the kids look serious, they look scared);
** script: they’re talking about scary things happening to the Earth;
** acting: “the way they say ‘Tick’ is scary” (acting);
** setting: scary setting, the kids are in the dark
* script: they repeat the scary things in the script
* script/titles: they tell you what you can do and it’s easy
* acting: they are very serious
* editing: they changed speed
* editing: switched from black and white to color
* shooting/storyboarding: zoomed in on the boy
* shooting/storyboarding: filmed kids in different ways
* script: spoke the web address
* titles/editing: used titles on the screen (words) to show you the address
The video: cyberbullying PSA called “Talent Show”
The topic: Cyberbullying, or bullying using the Internet
The point
* bullying is not ok in person, and it’s not ok on the computer either
* think twice about saying bad stuff about other people on the internet,nm
How they convinced us not to be bullies
* hurtful
* insulting
* bad/sad
* showed a girl dissing
* surprise — showed us something we didn’t expect
* reaction shots of kids: sad, offended, shocked, horrible — those kids thought she was wrong
* reaction shots of patty: happy that someone was talking about her, then sad, embarrassed, upset
* no music
* click sounds like typing — and showed something get deleted
* setting was a talent show — big audience
* realistic fiction
February 13, 2008 at 5:16 pm
More notes on “Tick”
* They used fear to motivate us — with serious faces
* voice overs giving the “effects of” or “consequences of” global warming: “massive hurricanes, severe droughts, heat waves…” — we know these things have bad consequences
Group organizer and Script outline – 10-20 seconds each
What’s our strategy?
* Anger about unfairness: Tell people that it’s not fair for older people to ruin the world for kids growing up.
Who is our audience?
* Schools (teachers and kids, 3rd grade and up) — because kids can tell their parents, and adults can change. Adults can change their behaviors and teach their kids. Adults have power to stop it or make changes in the world right now. Kids younger than 3rd grade might get scared. * Audience: is everyone (adults and kids). We are talking to them as if are beginners.
Unit 1: Introduce the main idea to our audience: global warming is not fair!
- Tell them that this is unfair and we are mad
- Kids are not causing this, adults are, and they are wrecking our future.
- Make other kids mad!
- Make adults feel sad or guilty
Unit 2: Why it is this not fair
(grab the audiences attention)
- What it can cause, like natural disasters
- How it causes those things
- Kids don’t have the power to change these these things
- Adults have the power, but they aren’t doing anything
Unit 3: Tell them about research you’ve done that tells us our future is being wrecked
- …
Unit 4: What action do we want our audience to take because the feel angry or guilty?
- Do things to help stop global warming (what are they, specifically?)
- Kids tell your parents about this issue and video
- Kids, do the things you CAN do to help
Our next step will be to add more notes to Units 3 and 4, then start gathering our research. Then we will write the script, and deciding what images should go on the screen with our words.
February 27, 2008 at 5:23 pm
Great 2nd meeting today working on our script! Read the notes below to see how far we got…
What Feelings do we want to create to get people to pay attention to us?
* Fear and Guilt
Theme: “YOU!” Pointing the finger at adults. “We aren’t going to be able to do the things we want to do because of YOU. We can’t play now because we’re thinking about what YOU are doing to the Earth.” …
Setting: A playground without play. Kids are on the Playground, but they can’t play because they’re thinking about global warming, and the fact that someday they may not have a place to play…
Unit 1
Intro (Feeling based): “I’m disappointed in you, we need to talk.”
* Anger
* Shame
* Let the adults in the audience know why no one is playing on the playground, “It’s because YOU are not doing enough to fight global warming.”
Unit 2
What’s goin’ on & the causes
* see Mr. Marsano’s list & back it up with sources (websites, books, etc.)
Unit 3
What’s going to happen. (Fact/Science/Research based)
15 seconds about what might happen (if the average temperature keeps raising 4-6 degrees it could make a tidal wave that would hit New York)
* make sure you say what scientists gave us this information
Possible images to borrow (as long as we’re being “fair”):
* New York City under water
* Brooklyn Bridge with water flooding up to it
* Statue of Liberty underwater
* Still images from The Day After Tomorrow
Unit 4
* What YOU can do. (Fact based)
* a list of real things people can do
* demonstrations?
* end with a group shot of all kids on the playground saying “We need YOU!” (Devin’s idea)
* what do you want them to do as soon as they finish watching this PSA?
NEXT STEPS
1. Break into units
2. Write an outline of your script
3. Sketch storyboards showing what the audience will see and hear
4. Do research to support and add to what specifically is being said
March 18, 2008 at 3:06 pm
UPDATE:
Unit 1
Storyboarded in class.
2 Students are standing on an empty playground. A ball rolls up to the kids. The narrator introduces global warming, “Global warming is real and it’s a serious problem. Natural disasters are coming to Earth.” Little voices are in the background saying “You, You, You…” The kids say, “You caused all of the problems.” “You are wrecking our future.” “We need to talk.”
Unit 2
Needs to be storyboarded!
Close ups of students on the playground telling adults what they’re doing to cause Global Warming.
* YOU are leaving your engine running and burning too much petroleum or gas…
* YOU are leaving your appliances running…
* YOU are not turning off your computers…
* YOU…
Unit 3
Storyboarding today in class.
Facts are said by the narrator along with the images we searched for on the Internet. What do we know is happening? or what do Scientists saying might happen?
* Heat waves “…” (Source?)
* Greenhouse effect… “… ” (Source?)
* Melting sea ice and brutal sea storms eroding shoreline (Scholastic.com, 2004)
* …?
Unit 4
Needs to be storyboarded!
What can YOU do? Demonstrations of people doing things that can slow down global warming.
“But Washington believes action now could help avert future disasters, such as coastlines lost to rising sea levels and extreme shrinkage of the polar ice caps.” (Scholastic.com, 2004)
* change bulbs
* turn off your computers
* turn off your lights
April 29, 2008 at 1:53 pm
Our four Units (1 of which is being edited as needed by members of the other 3) have made “ROUGH CUTS” of their videos. Now it’s time for us to put the four rough cuts on one iMovie timeline as an “ASSEMBLY”.
Today we will watch the assembly and take notes on what the different Units have left to do, and what can make this PSA even better.
Specifically, we will watch for:
Technical tune-ups
Missing Shots
Transitions between the different units
April 29, 2008 at 3:11 pm
What we have to fix:
Unit 1
* fix Illeanel’s audio
* make sure the wind sound effect volume is low enough to hear Illeanel
* slow down the ball and cut one of the ball shots
* pick shots where the camera is not moving
* voice over for Fryda
Unit 2
* cut out “action” from the beginning
* re-do the “YOU’s”
* add more truck pictures
* pull the transition for now, add the ticking later
Unit 3
* fix the pace of the final pictures
* work on the final line of narration
* listen again to the narration (“cities”, “dying”)
* listen for “action”
Unit 4
* shoot the intro
* trim the shot of Tasnia in the car (smile)
* re-shoot Devin’s shot
[...] Mr. Marsano’s class is working on an exciting video project on global warming. Check out Mr. Marsano’s Class Blog to follow his lesson plan and progress, and look for the finished videos in the [...]
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January 29, 2008 at 5:10 pm
PRODUCTION SCHEDULE
1.30 – Introduction to PSAs:
* Watched PSA examples and discussed them based on the criteria in our script organizer (below)
by 2.6
* no class meeting — Mr. Marsano was absent
2.13 – Scripting and Research:
* created a script outline: each group has an outline of their script (see comment below) that identifies their target audience, and their tactics (inspiring Anger and Guilt) for convincing that audience to do something
* before the end of the week: research problems of global warming, and what kids and adults can do to fight it. Here are some links:
-> Tomorrow’s weather: http://content.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=7571
-> Things you can do: http://content.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=7570
-> Global Warming Web Resources for Kids: http://content.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=7574
* FINALIZE RELEASE FORMS and LETTER TO PARENTS to send home after mid-winter break
2.21: mid-winter break
2.26(?) & 2.27 – Final Script and Storyboards:
* Finalize script (by weeks’ end)
* Brainstorm about our approach: how will we make our audience feel guilty and angry with images?
* Sketch storyboards and key words for image searching
* Introduce Image searching and downloading of still images
3.4(?) & 3.5 – Storyboarding and Collecting Media; Begin Shared Editing:
* Finalize script and persuasive concepts
* Finish Storyboards
* Shoot necessary video
* Continue downloading images
* Begin “Shared editing”: video, still images, narration, music, transitions; we produce the video as a shared technology project — some will collect photos, some will shoot, either in the classroom, or around the school
3.11(?) & 3.12 – Shared Editing, Collecting Media & Kinobserver Shoot:
* Assemble what we have on one machine on the projector to review what each group has complete
* Assign jobs for groups to complete (more images, better recordings, different music)
* Kinobserver comes in to shoot us on the 12th (hopefully all morning? 9-12?)
GROUP SCRIPT OUTLINE
* 30 SECONDS EACH
1. Introduction to the issue: summarize the problem for our audience
2. Why this is something our audience need to act on: grab the audience’s attention
3. Research supporting why it’s important: persuasive data from strong sources
4. How we want the audience to take action: clear, simple steps